[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 61 (Friday, April 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2444-S2445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO COLONEL OSSEN D'HAITI

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the life and 
service of Col. Ossen D'Haiti, who is retiring from Active Duty in the 
U.S. Marine Corps after 27 years.
  From an early age, he felt called to military service and attended 
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. As an engineering 
cadet, he sailed abroad on four ocean-going vessels with port calls in 
Egypt, Israel, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, and England. In 
1990, he graduated Kings Point with a bachelor of science in marine 
engineering and a U.S. Coast Guard third assistant engineer's license.
  Commissioned as a Marine Corps officer, Colonel D'Haiti spent the 
next 27 years as an AV-8B Harrier pilot, completing notable assignments 
both in and out of the cockpit. He has deployed with aviation 
detachments aboard the USS Nassau, LHA-41, and the USS Bonhomme 
Richard, LHD-6, and has flown over 150 combat missions during 
Operations Joint Endeavor and Guardian Retrieval in 1996, Operations 
Enduring Freedom and Anaconda in 2002,

[[Page S2445]]

and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006-2007. He has also served on the 
staff of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, the 
Commandant of the Marine Corps' Strategic Initiatives Group, and the 
Marine Corps Forces Central Command Coordination Element forward 
deployed in Bahrain. His personal decorations include the Defense 
Superior Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star in 
lieu of Second Award, the Air Medal with 6 strike device, the Navy 
Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Gold Star in lieu of Second Award, 
as well as numerous campaign and service awards.
  While serving, Colonel D'Haiti also made numerous civic contributions 
and is a leader within his community. After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake 
devastated Haiti in 2010, Colonel D'Haiti volunteered for nearly a 
month with the Haiti Micah Project, working to provide hot meals and 
shelter to street children in Mirebalais. Colonel D'Haiti is married to 
the former Maxine Hall of Sharon, MA, and loving father to Elizabeth, 
Grace, and Benjamin.
  On behalf of my colleagues in the U.S. Congress and the thousands of 
sailors and marines you have led and mentored, thank you. Your life and 
service are the hallmark of the American Dream and will be an enduring 
inspiration for generations of young men and women after you. I wish 
you fair winds and following seas in all of your future endeavors.

                          ____________________